Herfoss tops FP2 as ASBK action hots up at Morgan Park

ASBK 2023
Round Five – Morgan Park Raceway
Free Practice Two

The quickest out of the blocks in the FP1 session this morning had been Troy Herfoss and Mike Jones, followed by Broc Pearson and Anthony West. Even the fastest time though was more than a second away from the qualifying lap record, set here last year by Wayne Maxwell at 1m12.562s. That gap was always going to narrow this afternoon.

As I walked through the pits ahead of this second 35-minute practice session almost every Superbike had a revalved or resprung shock going in, or new forks springs, and sometimes both ends were being changed.  It is no secret that Morgan Park Raceway is overdue for a resurfacing, and every single rider and team are spending a lot of time and effort to try and set-up their motorcycle to remain supple over the bumps.

Those with the most recent and extensive track knowledge are also tweaking their cornering lines to avoid the worst of the ripples in the tarmac.

Josh Waters just wants to cut laps as he didn’t race here last year and has less recent circuit knowledge than most. Bryan Staring was in a somewhat similar situation and also looking to tune the MotoGO Yamaha to ride the bumps much better.

While the general consensus is that the Phillip Island spec’ Pirelli rear will be the primary choice for the two 16-lap bouts on Sunday, many riders were also using this session to evaluate other options. The track temperature on race day will be the final metric they will measure their decisions against, with the softer option being ruled out if the track temperature is cool. The opening bout is slated for 1125 on Sunday morning with the second contest scheduled for 1505, thus the track temperature is likely to be quite different from the morning compared to the afternoon. While we are just nudging 20-degrees here for FP2 today at 1315, conditions are likely to be a few degrees warmer when qualifying takes place tomorrow at 1535. The current forecast for Sunday are for tops in the low-mid 20s.

As riders rolled out of pitlane for the penultimate 35-minute practice session the track temperature had just passed 35-degrees, but clearly some parts of the circuit were warmer than others. Competitors wasted no time and were all on track as soon as the session got underway, Mike Jones the last rider to join the circuit.

Mike Jones bested his morning marker of 1m13.511 on his third lap, dropping in a 1m13.454, before then reeling off a 1m12.880 to send a shot across the bows of his competitors.

The DesmoSport Ducati squad have been trying a more modern European approach to bike set-up this season, softer in the front and higher in the rear than what ASBK competitors have traditionally run. They have pegged that back a little today, treading the middle ground between the two somewhat, the changed approach looks to be reaping dividends.  Pearson was the second rider of the day to dip into the 12s, a 1m12.929 on his seventh lap, 15-minutes into the session, evidence that progress is being made.

Cru Halliday then came from nowhere to join the 12s club with a 1m12.967 to go P3 with 15-minutes to run.

With ten minutes remaining in FP2 it was still Jones, Pearson, Halliday, with that triumvirate the only riders in the 12s.  That situation remained the same five-minutes later but then Herfoss leapfrogged them all with a 1m12.801 on his 17th lap of the session to go P1. Prior to that the Penrite Honda man had put in plenty of low 1m13s to underline his potential. That marker stood right through to the chequered flag, Herf’ topping the session ahead of Jones, Pearson and Halliday.

Much of the rest of the field made good strides forward in this session. Josh Waters improving by more than a second. Glenn Allerton was testing different tyres in this session but like Bryan Staring and Arthur Sissis also made strides forward. Anthony West improved slightly after what had been a strong start to the day in FP1.

Max Stauffer and Ted Collins have much speed to find as they are somewhat behind the eight-ball, two-seconds off the front runners pace, so that pair will be expecting to make significant progress this afternoon.

Riders have one more crack at it today, a 35-minute FP3 session scheduled to get underway at 1555.

Morgan Park Superbike FP2 Times

1. Troy Herfoss – Honda 1m12.801
2. Mike Jones – Yamaha 1m12.880
3. Broc Pearson – Ducati 1m12.929
4. Cru Halliday – Yamaha 1m12.967
5. Josh Waters – Ducati 1m13.169
6. Glenn Allerton – BMW 1m13.596
7. Anthony West – Yamaha 1m13.632
8. Bryan Staring – Yamaha 1m13.889
9. Arthur Sissis – Yamaha 1m13.965
10. Max Stauffer – Yamaha 1m14.755
11. Ted Collins – Yamaha 1m14.898
12. Scott Allars – Yamaha 1m16.810
13. Eddie Leeson – Yamaha 1m17.813
14. Josh Soderland – Ducati 1m18.088
15. Michael Edwards – Yamaha 1m18.459
16. Paris Hardwick – Kawasaki 1m18.897
17. Michael Kemp – Yamaha 1m21.315

Superbike Championship Points

Morgan Park Supersport FP2 Times

John Lytras continued to set the pace as the temperatures rose just after lunch at Morgan Park but Scott Nicholson closed the gap.

1. John Lytras 1m15.623
2. Scott Nicholson 1m15.797
3. Ty Lynch 1m16.030
4. Hayden Nelson 1m16.048
5. Olly Simpson 1m16.170
6. Cameron Dunker 1m16.201
7. Dallas Skeer 1m16.344
8. Glenn Nelson 1m16.545
9. Tom Bramich 1m16.588
10. Jonathan Nahlous 1m16.933
11. Jack Passfield 1m17.207
12. Jake Farnsworth 1m17.314
13. Jack Favelle 1m17.369
14. Luca Durning 1m17.967
15. Declan Carberry 1m18.310
16. Ben Baker 1m18.827
17. Tarbon Walker 1m18.929
18. Reece Oughtred 1m19.251

Supersport Championship Points

Supersport 300 Championship Points

Yamaha Finance R3 Cup Championship Points

bLUcRU Oceania Junior Cup Championship Standings

Morgan Park ASBK Schedule

Friday 14th July
Time		Class	Event	Duration
1405	1420	bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup	FP2	15 mins
1425	1450	SSP300	FP3	25 mins
1455	1525	Supersport	FP3	30 mins
1530	1550	R3 Cup	FP3	20 mins
1555	1630	Superbike	FP3	35 mins
1635	1650	bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup	FP3	15 mins
Saturday 15th July
Time		Class	Event	Duration
0900	0925	SSP300	Q1	25 mins
0930	1000	Supersport	Q1	30 mins
1005	1025	R3 Cup	Q1	20 mins
1030	1110	Superbike	FP4	40 mins
1115	1135	bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup	Q1	20 mins
1140	1205	SSP300	Q2	25 mins
1205	1255	ASBK Paddock Show & Autographs Podium & Paddock	50 mins
1255	1315	R3 Cup	Q2	20 mins
1320	1350	Supersport	Q2	30 mins
1350	1405	ASBK Pillion Rides	Trackside	15 mins
1405	1425	bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup	Q2	20 mins
1430	1500	Supersport 300	R1	10 Laps
1505	1525	Alpinestars Superbike	Q1	20 mins
1535	1550	Alpinestars Superbike (Top 12)	Q1	15 mins
1550	1600	ASBK TV Time	Media 1	10 mins
1600	1620	bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup	R1	6 Laps
1625	1645	R3 Cup	R1	8 Laps
Sunday 16th July
TIme		Class	Event	Duration
0900	0905	bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup	WUP	5 mins
0910	0915	Supersport	WUP	5 mins
0920	0925	SSP300	WUP	5 mins
0930	0940	Alpinestars Superbike	WUP	10 mins
0945	0950	R3 Cup	WUP	5 mins
1000	1020	bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup ^	R2	6 Laps
1025	1055	Supersport	R1	14 Laps
1100	1120	SSP300	R1	10 Laps
1125	1205	Alpinestars Superbike *^ (Replayed on SBS)	R1	16 Laps
1215	1235	R3 Cup	R2	8 Laps
1235	1330	Lunch – ASBK Paddock Party	Paddock	55 mins
1330	1350	bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup *	R3	6 Laps
1400	1430	Supersport	R2	14 Laps
1435	1455	SSP300	R3	10 Laps
1505	1550	Alpinestars Superbike *	R2	16 Laps
1600	1620	R3 Cup	R3	8 Laps

Morgan Park ASBK Entry List

Superbike Entry List

Supersport Entry List

Supersport 300 Entry List

Yamaha R3 Cup Entry List

bLUcRU Oceania Junior Cup Entry List

2023 ASBK Calendar